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Some people wanted to know how things proceed with my taking on "that other site" for copyright infringment because of their habit (and encouragement) of copying wholesale stuff from DU to mock it. For those who want to know, here is the latest.
(1) I did manage to track down a likely address for the guy who runs the site. A Cease and Desist letter has been sent to him (the text of which is copied in my LiveJournal for those who are curious), and DMCA letters have been sent to Domains by Proxy (who he uses to shield his identity from discovery, like the coward he is), his co-located host, and his actual hosting service demanding the removal of my material.
I had offered over a month ago to settle all this and keep it out of the legal realm if he would remove my stuff and shut down the portion of his site dedicated to copyright infringement as an assurance that this kind of thing won't happen again. He refused, as can be seen by the plethora of my stuff still there and posted since. I didn't want to involve his hosting company because my intent wasn't to shut down the entire site, but the DMCA is quite clear in this, and they turned down my offer to walk away from it. One of them made the mistake of reposting one of my comics through Photobucket, and they were helpful in dealing with this, too.
(2) I stopped back up and looked in on the discussion about all this. It looks like they're in a tizzy. Half of them are posturing and spouting complete garbage about copyrights, having never even bothered to do any research and buying into myths that the more strident "free information" crowd have been spreading. One of them, an attorney, has been trying to set them straight, but no one seems to be listening. One of them even talked about just dissolving their LLC and re-forming it under another name the next day, like that's going to work.
(3) I love how they go out of their way to dispute my copyrights. One of them brought up DU's privacy policy, which states that anything posted here becomes public information. What they fail to realize is that "public information" does NOT mean "public domain." It means that anyone who happens along here can read what is posted, it does not mean that we give up our rights against the entirety of our works being posted elsewhere. There are precedents in this matter. Besides, three of the pieces I'm fighting over were NEVER posted on DU.
I'm making a push with my comic strip and with three of my copyrighted essays that I've reposted here. The text of An Open Letter To The South, Operation Pulpit Watch, and My Big Fag Gay Wedding Episode One (to name just three of what they've reproduced) have been protected since the second they were created according to the Copyright Act of 1976 (amended 1978) and have also been registered. In fact, since they were created after 1989 they don't even need to fly the copyright flag even though I do. I believe the law is clear in this matter.
As for my comic strip, some now are suggesting that its collage nature automatically makes it uncopyrightable. That's completely wrong. My two most common elements are a photograph of Queen Victoria taken by Alexander Bassano for her Golden Jubilee in 1887 (and variants thereon) and a photograph of the future Edward VII taken by Matthew Brady in Philadelphia in 1860. At 120 and 147 years of age respectively, both those images have long lapsed into the public domain, and since they are historical public figures their likenesses themselves have passed into the public domain. I use a number of elements of famous paintings (like the "Rainbow" portrait of Elizabeth I from 1600 and Gainsborough's "Blue Boy" for example) whose images have likewise passed into the public domain, public domain clipart, other public domain photographs, and occasionally images where I have purchased the use of them. Yes, those images are in the public domain and not copyrightable, but my TEXT and any resultant images I create through manipulation or collaging, and graphic/photographic and other elements that I create myself ARE. That's where my copyright lies and where I claim it. I don't care what anyone else does with Bassano's portrait since it's free for everyone to use, but I DO care about what someone does with my writing and the unique product it creates.
(4) My favorite quote from their boss, who only gave me a first name when he called me not thinking I could do research to find out who he really was, was "you act like you're speaking for everyone at Democratic Underground." My response, "do you bave permission from ANYONE at Democratic Underground to repost their stuff?" That was met with silence. I think he realized what he could be in for if we ALL started standing up for our rights.
(5) I absolutely LOVE the people who are accusing me of lying about military service. Here's a clue, folks: I never lied about my military service because I've never CLAIMED to have had military service. Projecting their own guilt back at me, perhaps?
(5) There's a common prevailing thought there that because we're liberals and progressives over here, that we're cowards. People think I'm blowing smoke out my ass. They'll find out otherwise when the Cease and Desist letters arrive next week. Maybe then they'll learn. And maybe if others stand up to them (those who want to can feel free to use copies of my Cease and Desist letters from my LiveJournal or PM me for text and addresses) they'll REALLY learn.
I tried to deal with this personally, they refused. I had planned to do this quietly after the first of the year so as not to ruin anyone's holidays, they went out of their way to be confrontational. I had planned to do this in a purely businesslike manner, and they made it personal. I guess you reap what you sow.
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